Winches and hoists have proven indispensable tools in moving objects of considerable size. As technology has advanced, improvements have been incorporated into winches and hoists that enhance performance while still preserving essential functions. However, in recent decades, improvement of winches and hoists has stagnated at the incorporation of direct drive electric motors. Solutions presented for increasing the power of winches and hoists have been to increase the size of the accompanying motor. This therefore significantly limits the power available in any application to the space available for the motor, the weight of the motor that can be reasonably supported, and, in some cases, the amount of power that is available for the motor. For example, in cases where a winch is powered by an automotive battery and/or alternator, the amount of available torque is limited by the amount of amperage available to directly turn the winch motor and the weight supportable by the vehicle. Thus, there is a need for a solution that increases torque without requiring additional energy input and/or size.